Imagine...

"Hey! How's it goin'?" he asked.

"I'm good," I said, "How about yourself?"

"Just tired," he responded.

"I can imagine," I said!

It's a phrase I learnt during my call center days. An expression call center employees were trained to use when a customer expressed a problem or concern.

"It's natural to say - I understand," the trainer explained.

"But imagine a situation! A customer is trying to complete the purchase of his new home by a certain date. He would like to move in before the new school year starts for his children, but his home loan is not approved though he was promised approval by that date and has submitted all the documents he was asked to."

"In that situation, if you said, "I understand", the customer would say, "No, You don't understand!"

"Which is why a better way to respond is to say, "Dear Mr. Customer, I can imagine how that creates a problem for you..." and then provide the reasons for the delay, or better still, an alternate solution."

It struck a chord right away! And has stayed with me for over 15 years.

Which is why, as I got ready to stretch my hamstrings and quadriceps at my 7 PM physical therapy appointment (the last one for the day), I could imagine why Warren (one of the therapists) felt tired...

Spring...

I leave the office!

5:20 on Friday evening and and I feel like I got some work done.

I pause a moment in the lobby.

I need cash and I have a decision to make.

I can either go down to the food court, get cash from the No-name ATM and pay a transaction fee or I can walk 3 blocks left in the wind to my own bank.

I tuck my scarf into my coat so it covers my neck.

I wish I can put my hands in my coat pockets too, but I'm carrying this huge binder from the training program I attended that morning in one hand and leftovers from the Thai food I had for lunch in the other.

Luckily, a homeless man curled up on the sidewalk, graciously accepts the leftovers.

I wonder why the ATM area at the bank is filled with policemen!

I find it funny that every single one of them is busy looking at his phone.

It's a 6-block walk back to my parking garage.

I transfer the binder to my right hand so my left can have some respite.

The attendant at the parking garage is happy with the 20.

Still, there's a long line of cars on the street and to turn right, I'm at their mercy.

The Parkway looks rather empty!

I make a couple of phone calls even as I weave through Race Street.

I chance upon the sky as I approach the Ben Franklin bridge.

I'm surprised, it's almost 6 pm and there's still light!

It makes me smile...

Soon, it'll be Spring.

Prodigy...

"And you're talking to the  Product Head!," he said, after he had just finished demonstrating the '5 Paisa' App to me, his elder cousin of 15 years, whom he was probably meeting after 5. He didn't try to hide his pride.

Santosh Jayaram was always the prodigy of the family. Innately gifted, he picked up the art of classical Indian dance at a very tender age by just accompanying his sister to her weekly dance lessons.

His true calling (I thought) though, was music! His voice could melt hearts and just when one thought that he would soon challenge the Jambavans of Indian classical vocal music, he chose the Veena as his instrument of musical expression.

Years of relentless practice (accompanied by his mother, my aunt's, incessant nagging) saw him grow from performances at family do's to concert halls and stages across the big cities of India, as part of his fusion band 'Agyna' and accompanying stalwarts and legends of world music.

"Music could be his career. Life!", I said, when my aunt worried (as she does for everything) about where he would be placed as part of  campus recruitment at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai, where he was just about to complete his dual degree in Engineering and Business.

I encouraged her to get comfortable with the fact that he may have no real job and even asked her to get ready to travel with him as he went from one world stage to another. In my own mind, I had built him up to be the one, not to take the beaten path in a family full of Engineers!

Not only was I able to quickly relate to the app, but also provide one little point of view, because (as I explained to him), I am myself in the middle of the process of leading a change in the mobile app experience of the Home Security / Connected Home brand that I work for.

"How is Agnya?" I asked, as our conversation continued. I wasn't sure what the expression on his face meant, but he quickly clarified it saying he'd hardly found time for anything other than work in a while, leave alone music.

Watching him pore over his emails (from his ipad) over the next few minutes, in that hotel room, while on vacation to attend another cousin's wedding, made me wonder where I had gone wrong!

All this while I had thought that his software job was only a means to make his ends meet and waited for the day he would announce that he was quitting his software career to pursue music full time.

And here he was, having embraced 'FinTech' (an expression he used to describe his line of work) whole-heartedly and at all of 28, carrying the responsibility of a Rs. 100 crore backed wealth & investment management product on his young and able shoulders.

The music's still there! He let me savor a few aalapanas, once as we were seated right next to the Nagaswaram troupe at the cousin's wedding and once as the radio played during a car ride. 

The prodigiousness just seems to be being put to use elsewhere for now...

Short...

Should I write?

Should I sleep?

Or should I just hang in here and wait for the presentation that poor Jonathan has been working on all day long and expects to send me in the next 20 minutes?

Quick time check on the top right 'whatever they call it' bar of my macbook, shows it's 4:36 PM EST! The map on airborne.gogoinflight.com shows we're flying right over Kansas City (I wanna say, CST) and 2Hr 19 Min of flight time remaining....

But the "1" that just appeared in a little red circle (accompanied by a little white envelope) over the golden yellow "O" (for Outlook) on the status bar (I think I got this one right) at the bottom of my macbook made me check if it was Jonathan's email and a quick review of the presentation and my notes back to him have ensured that even if I go on, how much more I can write is limited not only by my laptop's battery (now at only 25%), but also by more 1s in little red circles that keep appearing from time to time...

One thing's clear, I can put off sleep for a bit, because 21% on my macbook doesn't count for a lot!

Which is also what I'm counting on, what with nature calling...

Not that I can go right away even if I wanted to with the refreshment cart in the way!

So I'll just sit tight, sip my coffee and wait it out...

Jonathan's fast, he just sent me the presentation updated with my notes!

But checking that and responding to him have ensured my battery's almost run out...

So I'm going to publish this without further ado!

For even if this is a short post, it's been a while since I wrote...

School...

It's been a while (not just since my last post)!

25 years, actually...


Only the other day, RV (short for R Venkatraghavan) reached out to members of the facebook group titled PSBB (Class of) 1990:

"Did you all realise this is the 25th year since we left PSBB? In recent years I have heard from PSBB alumni (current PSBB parents) of other batches that they organised their 20th or 25th reunion at PSBB. Maybe we should plan on a reunion at PSBB sometime around Mar-June 2015?
RV"

However, Hamsini (elder twin of Harshini, both daughters of my mom's younger sister), had reached out to me even earlier, albeit on a different note:

"One small request., whenever you find time, can you please write about how much chennai and Psbb mean to you? I've always wanted to read your version about them..."

Needless to say Hamsini and Harshini both go to PSBB! So did their brother Harissh. My son went there too and would have stayed if I hadn't moved to the US, but we'll save that story.

What I will tell, as we sit here on the cusp of a New Year, one that will mark the Silver Jubilee of my graduation from PSBB, is the one story that has stayed and comes first to my mind when I think of what PSBB means to me...


I love the school's Anniversary Program! A 3-day event that happens sometime Jul/Aug, it's the quintessential showcase of the not just the students' talent, but the ability of the teachers, the support staff, the management and the parents to all come together and deliver an event of great, grand scale...

The theme for the program is chosen months in advance and right from the time school opens for a new academic year in early June, staff coordinators are allocated for specific routines, students (spanning 3 branches and all grade levels) are chosen for the various parts to be played and rehearsals are held after school hours every single day leading up to the event...

Every single parent gets a printed invitation with the details of the program, children are brought in early to school on the days of the event for make up and other preparation and then bussed to the venue, which is usually one of the large prestigious auditoriums in the city...

Every routine includes elaborate sets and the right elements of music, lighting, props, computer graphics and even special effects. Students, teachers, parents and even celebrities make up the audience. A show grander than this is legion only in the world of Indian Cinema...


Even though I had the fortune of enjoying this event for 14 years in a row, plus one (when I went back as an alumnus to receive an award), it's one little thing from the year 2006 (when my son was in Lower Kindergarten - LKG), that stays top of mind...

The theme that year was "Dhanam" meaning charity, sacrifice or simply "To Give"! One of the routines was the story of Lord Vishnu's Vamana Avatar. The essence of the story is how the Lord taught a powerful but vain king a lesson on humility. "To Give without pride or ego"...

The Lord appears as a puny peasant begging for alms at a ritual the king is performing with pomp and show. When urged by the king to ask for anything at all that he may want, he asks for just 3 paces of land as measured by his tiny feet...

The king, consumed by his arrogance is amused by the peasant's ask but grants him his boon anyway. The Lord, who then assumes his true form, in his first step, measures up the entire earth and his second, the heavens and the entire cosmos...

When time comes to take the third step, the Lord asks the king where he might place his foot, then the king realizes his mistake, bows in humility to the Lord and offers his very head for the Lord to place his foot on...


This routine was being performed by 7th and 8th grade students. The character of the puny peasant though was played by a kindergartener. The moment that took my breath away was the point in the play when the Lord assumes his true form...

At the cue of the mighty king laughing in arrogance to the peasant's ask, the lights went out for a matter of a few seconds and when they came back on, the stage was filled with kindergarten students playing the king and his retinue and an overgrown high school kid playing Lord Vishnu!

And as the Lord placed his foot on the king's head, the music reached a crescendo...


Thank you for your request Hamsini! And I'll do my best to be at the 25 Year Renuion RV...

Whether it's 2015 or the end of time, I'll always remember PSBB as the place that taught me what BIG IDEAS are all about...


Happy New Year Everyone! Have a Healthy and Peaceful 2015...

Rag...

"Don't wear stripes", they said!

"Or checks! They'll make you count them. No long sleeves, no bright colors either, don't tuck in your shirt, wear simple pants, no jeans, don't wear shoes, only slippers and don't even think about snazzy sneakers."

I don't remember who said it, but it pretty much made up the playbook for 'How not to become an obvious target for ragging'. What they didn't tell me was that I was going to get ragged anyway, just not on these!

I had also heard other stories. From fun - like making a bunch of freshers go dancing around the college bus saying, "Aiya! Bus vandhachu (Oh what fun! The bus is here), to fatal - enough said.

"It's all in good spirit", they'd also said. "Ragging is how you build a relationship with your seniors because eventually they will give you their books, advice and who knows, even career opportunities."

But I wasn't exactly the bravest of men (read: "I was s#!+ scared")! So, it was with mixed feelings (more like sense of terror) that I looked forward to College.

I decided to prepare! But a look at my wardrobe only made my heart sink further. Not that I had any bright colored shirts (not with my skin color), but I seemed to have a penchant for long sleeves, stripes & checks.

My options really reduced to a white, polo style t-shirt I used for cricket or the white short-sleeved shirt from my school uniform! And given a bright red manufacturer's logo on the t-shirt that alluded to a famous cricketer (Sunny), I decided it was better to go with the school shirt, even if it meant that I would have to painstakingly un-sew the school monogram that was stitched on to its pocket. Even if I had outgrown it.

With plain black trousers and sandals (from Bata) to match, I felt ready when the day arrived. I was careful not to wear a watch and to smear my forehead with sacred ash and vermilion. I prayed every minute.

So much for all the hard work, I don't even remember how the first day went! I tend to think it was mostly uneventful, because sooner than I knew it, I was walking down the long pathway leading to the bus stop.

I was almost there, when, "What mighty arms?", I heard a voice say. Certain that the reference was not to me (but fearful that it might be), I scurried to fulfill those few steps that would get me to safety. But the "Hey You!", that followed told me that it was indeed being made to me, much to my horror and despite my frailty.

"What is your name?", was the first question, followed by "Which school did you go to?" and "Where are you from?" They got to the point (there were 2 seniors) once I had answered them satisfactorily.

"Why are you wearing such a tight shirt?", one of them asked me. "I was told to look simple and I couldn't find anything else", I muttered, still in fear. "You don't have to be afraid, but don't wear this anymore", said the other. "There's a bus due in 2 minutes, so come along. Let's get to know you better on the way home", said the first, even as he threw his arms over my shoulder.

I stayed scared for the best part of my first year at Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering, but the only ragging I really remember being subject to was having to run around the college cricket field on a hot afternoon with a twig in my right hand, held high to signify the Olympic torch.

But all day on Sunday, 10 Aug 14, I've only remembered little things from those 4 memorable years I spent there.

For, it all began, 24 years ago, today...

Walk...

It's 930 AM! I woke up at 5 (4:48 to be exact)...

All those early morning conference calls have made sure that my earplugs haven't left my ears since I located them on my work desk using the flashlight on my iPhone. I can almost hear the relief...

I Alt-tab to my Outlook Calendar! I see more relief. In the form of a 90 minute space before my next meeting. The only decision I need to take is what to do with it...

It's been a long week! With discussions, deliverables, project plans and presentations. I could use the time to prepare for my meeting at Noon (I already posted my update for the 11 AM). But I decide to step away...

Working from home is a blessing! I walk down the stairs, into the kitchen and stare into the refrigerator for a few aimless moments. I realize the peril of filling the space with a snack and walk away...

I step out the door! Just to check how it feels. "It's a fine Friday", I tell myself, "balmy at best". I look up into the bright sky, but I can't see the sun...

I see my flip flops! I slide into them. I quickly check my trouser pockets to see if I have my iPhone and start ambling. Wow! I even have my earplugs, so I find some music to play...

I could have run but I walk! Maybe my sore knee made me choose the flip flops. It's not even leisurely, by no means brisk, it's a deliberate slow trot...

The streets are quiet as I tread along the sidewalk. A cyclist sneaks up on me, pedaling hard as she takes to the grass to pass me. I'm not really rattled but I couldn't have really heard her with the music in my ears...

I walk into a development. It's even quieter! The lone face I see is that of the postman stuffing the mail into the individual residents' boxes...

I check my email (I can't stay quiet). "Nothing that can't wait", I decide, as I move along. More emails arrive, and a meeting maker too! But I have to decline as it causes a 11 AM conflict...

I check the time! I've got some on hand. So I enter another development and walk on. The charge left on my iPhone battery is what I really need to be conscious of...

"Should I turn back now?", I ask myself. I check the time again. My gut tells me that I can still walk the entire length of the development before I turn back and I would still be on time...

I decide to save the battery from failing instead! I close out all the open apps on my iPhone (leaving only the music on), lock the phone and put it back in my pocket...

I see the birds! They move and slowly converge in the middle of the street. It's unusual. I've seen geese only near the little ponds, sometimes near the park...

I stop in my tracks. They're birds of prey! I tread with care, staying on the edge of the sidewalk till I've steered clear of them. They're too busy pecking at that dead rodent to notice anyway...

I hit the homestretch. I'm coming up on the hour! But I don't step up the pace. I trundle on. I still see no faces. I can even hear myself breathing...

I pass our own mailbox! I'll be at the door any moment. I check the time again...

"Not many can do this", I think to myself! I look up into sky.  I stop the music. And log in to the conference call...